Last year Hillside lost all three games it played in the High School OT Holiday Invitational but thanks to Saturday’s 68-65 win over Raleigh Broughton, the Hornets are a win away from taking the title.

Southern’s James Taylor put his unique twist on the David and Goliath story of the ultimate underdog overachiever, going into his 220-pound championship match at the Tiger Holiday Classic outsized, not favored by many to win, and battling a fierce fever.

When the dust settled at the rugged 22-team Eagle Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday, South Granville grappler Nathean Castillo was crowned the 113-pound champion. South Granville, with a 20-1 record one of the big surprises in North Carolina wrestling this season, finished sixth in the team standings. Orange finished third, with Joe Scott clinching the 138-pound title and Byron Stephenson rolling to the 285-pound championship.

North Carolina was left kicking it self on Saturday after multiple miscues on special teams allowed South Carolina to win 21-12 and extend the Sandlapper winning streak in the annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas over the Tar Heels to three.

The area will be well represented in Saturday’s Shrine Bowl as three local players will participate in the game in Spartanburg, S.C., that pits all-star teams from North Carolina and South Carolina against each other.

Can Chapel Hill pull off its fourth straight ‘upset’ in as many state playoff games Friday? Maybe, maybe not. But the Tigers are confident that nothing’s impossible. Chapel Hill, the No. 12 seed in the 16-team Eastern 3-AA Regional will play for the East title at Greensboro Northern Guilford Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to a Dec. 13 state championship game.

Chapel Hill came onto Southern’s home turf with an aura of confidence and left euphoric after knocking the defending 3-AA state champion Spartans off their throne in a thrilling 39-28 upset Friday night. Click on the following live links for complete coverage of area quarterfinal games. New Bern 13, Hillside 7 ... Northern Guilford 31, Orange 7

Northern Guilford, winner of three of the last four 3-AA state titles, whipped Orange High School 31-7 at a chilly Auman Stadium. The Nighthawks (13-1) will host Chapel Hill next week with a berth in the state championship game at stake.

Orange’s 12-1 record is strong. But the Panthers would tell you they should be undefeated heading into the quarterfinals of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-AA playoffs. No. 6 seed Orange hosts No. 7 Northern Guilford (12-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

With his team staring down a double-digit deficit after a nightmare first quarter against Chapel Hill on Friday night, Terry Sanford coach Bryan Till said he saw no shortage of fight on the Bulldogs’ sideline. As the rest of Friday night’s second round Class 3-AA state playoff contest unfolded, that showed as Terry Sanford put together a solid comeback before falling short 23-20.

Weathering Carrboro’s quick start was the key for South Granville to come back and beat the Jaguars 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-16) Tuesday night in the state 2-A volleyball semifinals.

No. 4 East seed South Granville (28-3) earned its second berth in three years in the 2-A state championship which will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum, against the 2-A Western champion, No. 11 seed Hendersonville, which beat No. 8 West seed Bunker Hill 3-0 Tuesday night.

South Granville coach Christy Fitzgerald said her team played with a lot of poise against East No. 2 seed Carrboro after losing the opening set.

“We knew Carrboro was going to be a tough team,” Fitzgerald said. “We knew they were balanced a lot like us and they had a lot of weapons like us. After the first set we settled in and remembered who we were and it started to click and it started to flow.”

Durham Academy loses NCISAA field hockey title 1-0 in sudden-death to Charlotte Country Day ... Area 2-A and 4-A state tennis finalists all fall in championship round ... Many area programs advance through regionals to state cross country championships.

For Northwood coach Bill Hall in his farewell tour season, his Chargers had a chance to do something historic against rival Jordan-Matthews Friday night and did just that, stopping the Jets 37-7 for their third straight win.

Northern came within one tantalizing yard of its first victory of 2014 Friday, but to the Knights’ ultimate frustration, they didn’t get any closer in a 20-14 loss to Raleigh Wakefield at Durham County Memorial Stadium Friday night.

Click on links below for complete Friday area high school football coverage:

Perfection is on the line tonight as 4-0 Orange travels to Pittsboro to meet 4-0 Northwood in the Big Eight 3-A Conference showdown of the season. Orange is ranked No. 8 in the state among 3-A programs and Northwood No. 25 by MaxPreps.com, the online partner of the N.C. High School Athletic Association. ...The game is one of 13 games involving area teams on tap tonight. Only three others — Greensboro Dudley at Northern, Chapel Hill at Oxford Webb and Bartlett-Yancey at Roxboro Person — will be played in the area, the rest are on the road.

Burlington Cummings’ quarterback Ryan Boswell connected with wide receiver Tevin Smith for a 51-yard touchdown with just 17 seconds to play to lift the Cavaliers to a wild 16-14 victory against Roxboro Person Friday.

In a span of a minute and three seconds the South Granville Vikings sealed a win with a pair of rushing touchdowns on consecutive possessions Friday and went on to defeat visiting Granville County rival Oxford Webb 28-12.

Northern came within one tantalizing yard of its first victory of 2014 Friday, but to the Knights’ ultimate frustration, they didn’t get any closer in a 20-14 loss to Raleigh Wakefield at Durham County Memorial Stadium Friday night.

Click on links below for complete Friday area high school football coverage:

Perfection is on the line tonight as 4-0 Orange travels to Pittsboro to meet 4-0 Northwood in the Big Eight 3-A Conference showdown of the season. Orange is ranked No. 8 in the state among 3-A programs and Northwood No. 25 by MaxPreps.com, the online partner of the N.C. High School Athletic Association. ...The game is one of 13 games involving area teams on tap tonight. Only three others — Greensboro Dudley at Northern, Chapel Hill at Oxford Webb and Bartlett-Yancey at Roxboro Person — will be played in the area, the rest are on the road.